The 1997 General Hospital Weekend
by T n' T

After the fan club awards, Executive Producer Wendy Riche

made a speech.  We will refrain from editorial comment (until

the top ten list)  and present her speech in it's entirety.



"I did want to just gather some thoughts this morning, and say 

a few words. First of all it's another year, it's another emmy.

And it's the birth of General Hospital's first baby, "Port Charles".

And I want to congratulate all of you... all of you, for making

that happen.  Debbie Morris, thank you for putting this together.

Every year, not just the luncheon, but for holding the fan club

together.  And Michelle DeMoss, Tammy Pappis and Lori 

Resnick.  Where are you?  I know Debbie just thanked you, 

but I want to thank you.  You guys maintain and guide the 

General Hospital Fan Club. We really appreciate it.  



Everyone here and in the studio works very hard every day to 

bring you General Hospital.  We try our best.  Some days are 

great, some are not so great.  But always, we do try our best.  

And your support and love keeps us going.  We hear it and we 

feel it in many, many ways. Your continuing viewership.  Your 

support of "Port Charles." We couldn't have launched it without 

your help and support.  



It would not be succeeding without your veiwership.  And we 

need you to keep both shows going.  Your votes for the Soap 

Opera Digest awards stunned the industry.  We heard loud and 

clear that you loved us.  It was deeply, deeply felt by everyone 

who worked  at General Hospital.  They really knew that you guys 

voted and they really felt it. Your letters, your calls to soap talk, the 

on-line chats, your being here today, is monumental to us.  



Yesterday I was in a store and I was buying a birthday gift, for Susan,

 my assistant.  (Susan, Happy Birthday.)  Her Birthday's tomorrow.  

So I was getting her a gift and as the woman handed me back my 

credit card she said, "I love General Hospital. It's the best."  And for 

a minute I was stunned. I said, "Did I tell you that I worked on 

General Hospital?" She said, "Oh, no, no, I know your name."  

Which takes me back a little bit because I'm not an actor. But more 

important the look in her eyes and the love on her face.  I just walked 

away and said thank God for the fans.  



We ask a lot of you.  I know that.  We ask that you stay with us 

during changes and changes are always happening.  We ask you 

to change with us.  Putting on a dramatic play every day is going

to have its highs and lows.  And we ask that you stay with us, and

you do. We ask that you be patient during  transitions and you 

are.  We ask that you understand that transitions in writing happen.

We ask that you understand that actor's are people with rich 

lives, full of their own dreams, for themselves, for their families 

and for their own futures.  And sometimes that means moving on

from the show and we don't like it.  We ask you to join hands 

with us and wish them well, hoping they'll return, but always 

grateful for their time with us.  We ask you to please understand

this.  We ask that you stay tuned in and involved even when it's

not going the way you would like it, and you do.  We ask that 

you know that we read all of the fan mail.  Everybody here 

reads their fan mail. We read the show's fan mail.  And even

though we can't answer each and every letter, we ask that

you know we read it, we know it, we hear your opinions.

We hear your praise, and we appreciate all of it. 



When we're at work, we all speak to each other about the

family we have.  And we know it's a family.  We feel like

a family.  We share the joy of accomplishment every day.

We share the sadness of the death of our loved ones, both

at the work place and at home.  And we've shared the thrill

of birth.  We are all like one family, and though we can't share

all of your individual experiences, or the initimacy that comes

with daily contact, we still feel like family.  You have welcomed

us.  You have appreciated us, and you have loved us.  And we're

very grateful to be part of the General Hospital Family.  It's

your General Hospital Family, and I thank you from all of us."



Top Ten Reason Why We Stay Tuned In And Involved Even 

When It's Not Going The Way We Would Like It

10) Can always just turn down the sound and look at the guys 

 9) Interesting on-line fan pals

 8) Stefan's hynotic influence

 7) No Wal-Mart Grand Openings around here lately

 6) Too much time invested in web pages, updates and these

   darn top ten lists

 5) Don't want to pass up any opportunity to hear a Wendy 

    speech

 4) Still waiting for somebody... anybody to beat the crap out of 

    Ned 

 3) Shows are always good for a giggle

 2) Free Puerto Rican Vacations (What?! You all didn't get 

    yours?)

And the number one reason why we stay tuned in and involved

even when it's not going the way we would like it:

 1) Thinking about buying stock in Disney



Next was the Question  and Answer session.  We do not have all

the responses, and we do have more from the Port Charles people 

than the GH.  The Q&A was hosted by John J. York (Mac 

Scorpio.)

                            *****

"How much of your own personality slips into your character?" 

JJY asked Jon Lindstrom. 



"You really want to know that?  You really want to know," Jon

asked the crowd.  "I guesss you're referring to the fact that I 

stalk women, kill women, had a few problems with my own 

girlfriend?  Probably more than I'd like to think.  Yeah, probably

more than I'd like to think.  But, no, the characters are created by

the writers.  Like there's a terrific one right down there. [points

to Michelle Val Jean.] And all you can do is try to elevate what

they give you.  And by that I mean, you throw some of yourself

into it.  What do you want? Like a percentage? 10%."



"Thank you," said JJY, "Geeze, 10% was the answer."



                            *****

"What were you doing before you resumed the role of Scott 

Baldwin?" Kin Shriner was asked.



"What restaurant were you at, Kin?" JJY threw in.



"Well, you know, I told you," Kin started, "A little time in the

penitentiary.  Tax evasion stuff and then I was doing some movies.

You don't think I had a legitimate career away from here?   I'm

just so happy to be back into the bosom of day time.   It's a nice

place to be.  Did I answer the question?  Let's get the show going."



"Nobody here has that station with those movies that you did, Kin."

JJY teased him. 

                          

                           *****

Do you enjoy playing a wicked bad girl?  Julie Pinson (Eve) was 

asked.  "Like we enjoy watching you playing a wicked bad girl,"

JJY added. 



"I love it.  I love it. Who wouldn't love it?" Julie answered.  "It's

 so fun to be bad, when I'm so nice in real life." 



                           *****   

For Stephen Nichols, what three items could Stefan not live 

without? "Black; that's one thing," JJY opined.



"What three items?" Stephen mused.  "Well, I happen to have one

right here." He pulls out the item... "My moustache comb."  He

combs it a little. "I use this every day on the set." 



"Every five minutes is more like it," Mary Beth Evans commented.



"I can't think of the other two," Stephen admitted. "Thank you 

very much."



"I think you should go to the Gap and get some lime green 

t-shirts, or something." JJY suggested. "Something like the

color of this [inaudible]."



                           *****

Ingo Rademacher (Jax) was asked something like, did he

think Brenda should be with Jax or Sonny.  Then he looked

over at Maurice, and drew him into a hug. "Should we 

tell them?" he said confidentially. 



JJY then asked him how he got those leather pants on.

Ingo  was wearing leather pants and a bright plaid shirt.

"Vaseline," Ingo replied.



                           *****

"Will Jake be drawn into Rex's evil plans?" Rib Hillis (Jake

Marshak) was asked.



"In the next few weeks Jake will get more and more involved in

it, but hopefully not drawn into it too much." Rib answered. "Yeah,

we get into a little altercation, so it'll be interesting. "



"Rex beats him up," Jay Pickett (Frank Scanlon) suggested.





                           *****

"Here's a question for Carly Schroeder (SerenaBaldwin). What was 

your audition like for the role of Serena?"



"I don't know," said the little girl. "It was pretty fun."



"Was it hard?" JJY asked her, "Or was it long?"



"It was pretty long," she said.



"Did you read with Kin Shriner?" JJY asked her.



"A little bit," she admitted.



"You did?  Was Kin very good?" JJY asked.



"Oh, yeah," she said enthusiastically.



"Also, I have a question, will you and Maxie grow up at the same

speed?" JJY asked, though of course little Carly had no idea

what he was referring to.  Carly murmured something about

a magic trick she wanted to do but she wasn't quite ready 

yet.



                           *****

"How did you feel about that dress you wore at the Nurses'

Ball," Lisa Cerasoli (Ardanowski) was asked.  "Oh, I'm 

sorry, Lisa," JJY said apparently unable to identify her right

off.  



"She rents the apartment upstairs from you," said Wendy.



"Here's Lisa, the lovely Lisa." JJY



"Pay attention, John," Wendy said drily.



"Actually what I have to say about that dress is, after wearing it

for thirty hours, it really grew on me and when my manager and

myself watched the show, I told her, I'm like  it's a really cute

dress.  It's not that bad.  People told me it was really ugly, and 

she was really scared and now she does all my shopping for me."



                           ***** 

"This is for... There's a lot of Lisa's now, and almost as many Johns.

Lisa (Lord - Grace PC) how much time does it take to learn your lines?"



"It depends on the day.  I actually have a photo memory so it's

pretty easy." Lisa replied.  There was a restless rustle of envy from

the other actors. "Nothing interesting. I had six words the other 

day, so that took a little longer.  That took about an hour and a 

half." 



"But the checks don't bounce, baby," JJY pointed out. "And 

I think Carly is ready for her magic act. While no one was 

looking I think she hid something.  Go ahead."  



                           *****

"Okay," said Carly Schroeder.  "I bet you I can get a spirit to 

move." The napkin in front of her appeared to rise."Oooooh," 

said the impressed crowd.



JJY was unable to spoil the illusion with his statement, "From

back here it looks like a butter knife.  How did she do that?  Kin 

taught her that."



                           *****

Denise Galik-Fury (Rhonda PC) was asked what she'd been 

doing while away from GH.  She mentioned a couple of

charities she'd been involved in.  "One being the LIFE 

organization, which is Love Is Feeding Everyone, and

actually about a year ago my girlfriend and I started a group

down in central L.A. where we took about twenty gang 

kids who wanted to get out of the gangs and tried to 

introduce them to the arts so that they would have an outlet

other than the gangs they had been hanging out with.  We took

them to museums, and some to the theater. So there's two

organizations."



                           *****

Anna Lee (Lila Quartermaine) was asked to describe a fan

experience. "There's been so many and actually one of them

came all the way from Mississippi, I think, to visit me and we 

had a wonderful time and now she's been suffering from 

Cancer, so I've been collecting pictures for her.   Every time

I can, I write to her.  It's kind of difficult to write now, because

my right hand is crippled, but I tap it out on a typewriter.  And

I love all my fans and I'm so grateful to them.  And thank you

so much for giving me this lovely award. "



                           *****  

Debbie Morgan was asked about the difference between playing

Ellen and Angie (on AMC/Loving). "I didn't know she was Angie,"

JJY put in.  The crowd assured him that she was. 



"Well, you know, I just sucked on saccharine for about ten years.

And now it's just kind of nice to really be just...  Make my day!'

I'm enjoying it actually.  It's always much more fun, like Julie 

said, to play a character who is not so nice and sweet like myself."



                           *****

About to ask one question, JJY substituted his own inquiry.

"Mr. Billy Warlock why do you say you're a four handicap 

when you're really a nineteen?  No, uh... how does it make you

feel to a part of the General Hospital family?"



"It feels great." Billy replied.



                           *****    

"What hidden talents do you have?  Huh, huh... we all want to

know that," JJY said to Renee Allman. (Danielle Ashley.)



"Rib?" Renee said, as if her co-star might know something 

about that.  "Uh... hidden talents.  I like to cook. There you

go." After prompting she added. "Decorate, I like to decorate.  

I do."



"Those are good." said JJY. "I like to cook."



"And I also write.  There you go," she finished.





                           *****

"This is for Michael Dietz.  What do you think are some of the

qualities that attract Joe to Karen.  What are TWO of the 

qualities?"



"Let's see," Michael started.



JJY interrupted him. "Stand up man.  Can't you hear them? They 

want you to stand."  The crowd showed their appreciation.



"I think the fact that she's so... so... yeah, she used to be a 

stripper.  No, the fact that she's very innocent, and down to

earth.  And Joe is down-to-earth.  The fact that she's married

doesn't really help them out.  The fact that she's beautiful 

doesn't hurt either. That's about it."

                                     

                           *****

"What's it like to wear make-up every day?" Jay Pickett

was asked.

 

"I wore dark colors and thought I'd just blend in over here,"

said Jay Pickett. (Frank Scanlon) "Actually I wouldn't  know 

what it was like NOT to wear make up.  It's an everyday thing.

First thing in the morning, I put it on."



"He's not kidding," said JJY. "That's an excellent answer."



                           *****

"This is for Pat Crowley.  When a scene calls for an actor to

be eating, do you really eat the food?  And if so, how does it

taste?"



"I avoid eating because I know it's all going to be in between my

teeth and slipping down my chin.  So I try not to do that. If there's

an eating scene I get out of it."



"Thank you."



                           *****

What are you thinking of doing with Julie's file?"  Nolan North 

was asked.  



"What file?" he replied, deadpan. "You're just going to have to

wait." He pointed over at Lisa Ann Hadley (Julie). "You... close

your ears.  No, I don't know what file you're referring to.  Thank

you."



"Very good answer," JJY critiqued. 



                           *****

 "This is for Lisa Ann Hadley. Why would you go from good 

guy Frank to bad guy Chris?  Back and forth, back and forth like 

that."



"Because, John, I love playing tennis," Lisa said suggestively.



"Wow," said JJY, "Game, set, match and LOVE."



"Well, who could resist these two, you know.  There just both

so irresistably handsome," Lisa explained. 



"Oh, please," said JJY.  "A very good answer.  They are.  They're

just so irresistable."



                           *****

George Alvarez (Garcia) was asked what his favorite line was.  

He shrugged and answered, "Freeze." 



                           *****

Sarah Brown (Carly) was asked. "Will Carly's baby look like 

A) Sean Kanan, B) Billy Warlock or C) Brad Maule?"



"I'm hoping it looks like my future husband, actually." Sarah

said discreetly.  



"Don't you think that when Carly has flashbacks, that she

should have flashbacks to the love scenes with Sean and cut

back to Billy?" JJY said, trying to stir up debate.

 

"I think I'm having triplets actually. That's what they've got

in store for us." said Sarah.



                           *****

"This is for Susan (Brown... Gail Baldwin).  What's it like 

going from a one hour show to a half hour show?"



"We get out a lot earlier," said Susan.  "It's Rick's baby,"

Susan said about Carly's child. "That's for Monica fans.

You know it's wonderful.  We have a whole new family.

I have two grandchildren and I'm in love with them. I'm

in love with Kin and I love all the new people on Port Charles.

They're great.  Thanks."



                           *****

JJY read his own question which referenced his reputation

as a practical joker, and could he describe one. "Well, as you 

can see, from what we've been doing up here, we take this very 

seriously. We never joke on the set.  This is a very serious

business.  These are professional actors and it's our responsibility

to bring you the best possible daytime that we can. And we 

thank you for your support.  It's incredible.  You remember last

year? The room was filled up to just like the halfway mark back

there.  And you guys are filling the room up.  It's great to be 

here and I guess we're going to sign some autographs now."



                           *****   



Top Ten Things Stefan Couldn't Do Without

10) Moustache comb

 9) Anachronistic speech patterns

 8) Alexis' common sense

 7) Cheesy medallion

 6) A boat

 5) Mrs. Lansbury's cheese fries

 4) Medical Insurance

 3) A blonde to obsess over

 2) His inferiority complex

And the number one thing Stefan couldn't do without

 1) Melodramatic background music